STEENS — Don’t sleep on the 3-pointer.
But be careful not to come out too fast or members of the Oak Hill Academy long-distance squad — better known as the girls basketball team — will prove they’re more than snipers.
That’s the quandary opposing coaches will face this season when they try to stop coach Stan Hughey’s balanced group that features plenty of 3-point shooters and players who can face up and dribble by you with either hand.
Rachel Herndon had a team-high 16 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead a balanced scoring attack in which 10 players scored Tuesday night in a 49-17 victory against Immanuel Christian in a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AA, District 2 game.
Jason Davis had 17 points and eight rebounds, Darius Jones had 15 points and six assists, and Ross Moore had 14 points to lead the Immanuel Christian boys basketball team to a 65-44 victory.
In the varsity opener, Oak Hill Academy (10-3, 1-0 district) built a 10- lead thanks to 3-pointers by Herndon and Ellis and never looked back.
Ellis credits Oak Hill Academy’s ability to shoot the 3-pointer to training when the players were young and to longtime coach Stan Hughey, who is in his 16th or 17th season at the school. Many of the girls on the varsity team have played together for a number of years and honed their skills, which explains why so many of the players look so natural shooting from distance.
“Yes, we are a strong shooting team, but I think if we pull them out with our shots we have the ability to go by them and score,” said Ellis, another 3-point shooter who hit one trey Tuesday in a seven-point effort.
Even “post” players like Codi Williams look comfortable facing the basket from 15 feet out and attacking the basket if defenses are a little too aggressive trying to take away the 3-point shot.
“I think the word is starting to get out that we are (a 3-point shooting team),” Ellis said. “That has not been our strong suit. In the past, we have had an inside game and we have worked the ball around and drove and scored that way. This year, our strong suit is shooting threes. That is what we do the best.”
As strong as his team has been in averaging about 12 3-pointers a game, Hughey said defense, taking care of the basketball, and rebounding remain the foundation of his program. He didn’t think his team rebounded especially well Tuesday night, and he said the Lady Raiders are working on finding a better balance between playing outside-in and inside-out.
If that happens, he feels his team has the potential to play with the best teams in the state.
“We are blessed to have shooters like that (who can hit the 3-pointer,” Hughey said. “Sometimes we shoot too many of them, but certainly we try to spread people out, especially against a zone. Then if they come out we can go by people.
“We work really hard and play a lot of ball in the summer. We play more than we practice. These girls are real dedicated. Most of them are A and A-B students. It is amazing how dedicated to their studies and to basketball they are, and to compete. They want to be good at whatever they do.”
In the boys game, Immanuel Christian (9-1, 1-0) led 30-9 in the second quarter and 40-20 with 5 minutes, 49 seconds to play in the third quarter when Davis picked up his fourth personal foul. Fueled by A.J. Jones, Oak Hill Academy (5-6, 0-1) rallied to cut the deficit to 43-38 on a layup by John Robert Wilbourne with 5.3 seconds left in the third quarter. The Raiders couldn’t cut the margin below six in the final quarter before the Rams used a 15-2 run to pull away.
Oak Hill played the second half without Connor Baird, who appeared to suffer a knee injury on the final shot of the first half. He sat on the Oak Hill Academy bench in the second half with ice on his knee.
Despite playing without one of the team’s best shooters, Oak Hill Academy coach Brian Middleton credited his team for playing hard. The Raiders shared the enthusiasm of their coach, who jumped up in the air and shouted, “Let’s go” following a 3-pointer by Jones after he had his initial shot blocked. The trey forced Immanuel Christian to call a timeout leading 43-36 with 1:07 to go in the third quarter.
“They know we have to play hard,” Middleton said. “We have a lot of effort, but we didn’t play very smart or very well tonight. It was the start. We couldn’t throw it in the ocean. I don’t know if it was the intensity of the game or how bad we wanted to win. I think it is becoming a rivalry a little bit — a lot bit. We battled the entire game and just couldn’t get over the hump.”
Thomas hopes his team can use the latest victory as another example it can’t afford to continue to have letdowns in games if it wants to preserve its ranking of No. 6 in the state.
Christian Good had nine points and eight rebounds, and A.J. Johnston had six points for Immanuel Christian.
“(The letdowns) seem to happen for two or three minutes, not every game, but the last couple of games,” Immanuel Christian coach Billy Thomas said. “It is because we’re playing some pretty good competition. Oak Hill is a huge rival for us. When those guys come here they play hard, and they’re a good team.
“I was really shocked when we got up 20 points. I thought it would be a three- or four-point game all night long and whoever had the ball last was going to win. I wasn’t surprised when they came back.”
Bailey Edwards led the Immanuel Christian girls (7-3, 3-1) with six points. Taylor Kidder added four. The Lady Rams hope to get Taylor Baudoin back in practice today. Coach Jenny Hutcherson hopes Baudoin (back injury) will be able to return to action by Christmas.
In the girls junior varsity game, Sarah Elizabeth Dill had 14 points and Sydney Holton had 12 in Oak Hill Academy’s 41-24 victory.
Haley Good had 12 points, 13 rebounds and five steals, Megan Anthony had six points and five rebounds, and Mary Acker had four points for Immanuel Christian.
In the JV boys game, Matthew Gwathney had a team-high 14 points lead Oak Hill Academy to a 74-41 victory. Drake Riley had 13 points and Riley Pierce added 11.
Kyle Foster had 11 points and KC Cunningham had eight for the Rams.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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